Al-Ayn Social Care Foundation International is an umbrella organisation with 15 global members, representing fundraising and field offices. In 2016, Al-Ayn Iraq was granted special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), recognising our expertise in sustainable development, including economic, social, and environmental aspects.
This status highlights our contributions and allows active participation in UN conferences and events.
Through written statements, oral interventions, and side events, Al-Ayn has highlighted the struggles of two often-neglected groups, orphaned children and widowed mothers. Our special consultative status provides a platform to raise awareness of these challenges and the support we provide.
Since receiving special consultative status in 2016, Al-Ayn has participated in 26 UN sessions, including the Human Rights Council in Geneva and key forums in New York, such as the High-Level Segment of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, the Commission on Social Development, and the Commission on the Status of Women. These engagements raise awareness of the challenges faced by orphaned children and their families, and showcase our work supporting them.
In November 2025, we attended the Second World Summit for Social Development in Doha, participating in sessions on global social issues, poverty alleviation, reducing inequality, and promoting social inclusion.
Our participation reflects our commitment to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
On 27th February 2020, Al-Ayn hosted a side event titled Empowering Children Under the Threat of Violence at the United Nations Palais des Nations in Geneva.
The event introduced the origins of Al-Ayn Social Care Foundation – founded to document the lives lost due to terrorism and human rights violations following the 2003 Iraq conflict, and to care for the families left behind.
We provided an overview of our services, shared impactful case studies of orphaned youth supported by the foundation, and presented the vision behind Hikayati, our purpose-built, child-centred facility in Najaf, Iraq.
In 2015, the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) calling for urgent action worldwide. The SDGs recognise that ending poverty also requires addressing health, education, economic growth, climate change, and environmental challenges.
At Al-Ayn, our work focuses on breaking the cycle of poverty for vulnerable groups, particularly orphaned children and widowed mothers, aligning our initiatives with multiple SDGs.
Al-Ayn was founded to support orphaned youth and widowed mothers living in poverty. Our efforts are aimed at lifting these groups out of poverty and enabling them to become independent contributors to their societies in the long run.
Al-Ayn runs food distribution programmes in Iraq, Ghana, and Afghanistan, including emergency aid during crises like COVID-19.
Al-Ayn’s ‘Luminous Stars’ centres provide medical care, while our ‘Hikayati’ programme offers art-based therapy as part of a holistic approach to health and well-being. We are building a medical complex for orphaned children and their families, as well as impoverished people.
Al-Ayn provides financial aid for school and university fees, vocational training, and personalised educational support. We also facilitate sponsorship of university fees and contributions to university tuition. Currently, 815 orphaned youth in universities are being supported by Al-Ayn.
Al-Ayn offers equal support to orphaned boys and girls, with special programmes to empower widowed mothers through vocational training and microfinance.
In July 2024, we initiated our first ‘WASH’ project, which involved successfully pumping clean, safe water to a small village on the outskirts of Accra in Ghana.
Al-Ayn’s vocational training programmes equip youth with practical skills as they are trained in contemporary skills such as mobile phone repair, so they are better equipped to join the labour market and become active members of society.
We also offer microfinance options to orphaned youth and widowed mothers to help them start their own businesses, encouraging independence and entrepreneurship.
All Al-Ayn’s work is aimed at reducing poverty and therefore bridging inequality gaps in society, whether it’s our vocational training centres, Luminous Stars, designed to equip orphaned youth with key skills for employment, or our sponsorship programmes. We also recognise different types of inequalities in society and have tailored our support accordingly. For example, we have a special type of sponsorship with a higher rate for children and youth with medical needs that require additional support.
Al-Ayn has detailed processes and procedures in place, with thorough checks and controls at different levels to ensure that there is no corruption, there is proper means assessment, and only eligible beneficiaries receive support.
